Photo courtesy of Wesley Hitt/UA Media Relations
FAYETTEVILLE – After hitting a school record, nine homeruns, the Arkansas Razorback baseball team defeated Grambling State on Friday afternoon, 19-7, in their first matchup of the NCAA Baseball Tournament Regional. The Hogs were helped along the way by junior Brett Eibner’s three homeruns, while Colin Kuhn, James McCann, and Andy Wilkins each had two homeruns of their own, giving their team 19 total runs, good for second all-time in school history for runs scored in postseason play.
Eibner not only led the way in the homer category, but also posted seven RBI, a career high for him and team high this season. Wilkins, on the other hand, moved into a tie with Jeff King, for most career homeruns as a Razorback with 42.
The Hog offense, which had not been seen for the last couple weeks during the SEC Tournament and the final season-series with South Carolina, got started early in the first against Grambling, scoring six runs including a lead-off homerun by Kuhn and the first of three from Eibner. Zack Cox, also made his first appearance in the lineup today since May 21, going 1-for-2 and pushing his hit total for the season to 93, good for fifth on the all-time Arkansas list.
After scoring pushing their lead to 8-0 in the second, Grambling finally found their way to the scoreboard in the third after a double by Arthur Mazierski, scoring Chris Wolfe. That would be as close as the Tigers would get on the day as the Razorbacks plated three more runs in the bottom half of the third, making the score 11-1.
The starter for Arkansas today came in the form of senior T.J. Forrest, who pitched four strong innings before running into trouble in the fifth. Forrest led the inning off with a walk and then gave up a couple hits that resulted in three runs scoring for Grambling State. That would spell the end for Forrest, who was replaced by Sam Murphy to finish the inning.
With now the first game under their belt, the Razorbacks are now well-rested in their starting pitching rotation as they are expected to throw either Drew Smyly or Mike Bolsinger tomorrow in their game against Washington State. The Cougars earned the right to play the Hogs in the winner’s bracket of the regional after defeating Kansas State in Friday’s nightcap, 8-6. That game is scheduled to be played at 7 p.m. on Satuday at Baum Stadium, while the regional’s first elimination game between Grambling State and Kansas State will be played at 2 p.m.
Be sure to stayed tuned to uatvonline.net for continued coverage of the Hogs return run to Omaha and the rest of the Fayetteville Regional.